Conventional managed information environments typically include a plurality of interconnected manageable entities. In such an environment including a storage area network (SAN), the manageable entities may include storage arrays, connectivity devices and database entities, collectively operable to provide information storage and retrieval services to users. In the storage area network, various system administration activities are performed at various times to monitor and maintain the storage area network at an optimal level of operation. In modern managed information systems, system administration often includes invoking a graphical user interface (GUI) to perform a variety of system administration activities.
In a typical storage area network, a console is employed to operate the GUI for managing the storage area network. The console has a user interface display and couples to a server which is interconnected to the manageable entities via the SAN. In the conventional SAN, agents execute on various manageable entities for implementing the management operations emanating from the console. The console also receives informational reports from the server concerning operational details of the manageable entities. Such informational reports provide a SAN operator with information for making decisions about further administrative operations and actions to perform in order to maintain the SAN.